"Sweetie" The Skittish

Executive Summary

This 'rescue' happened about a week ago. Connie from Florence called me, needing help for her inside-only kitty "Sweetie" who had been stuck for two days outside of her house. Sweetie was initially stuck only about 10 feet up a small tree, but some well-meaning neighbors scared her higher up a neighboring pine tree during a rescue attempt. When I arrived, Connie led me to the pine tree where Sweetie was perched at 30 feet on a small stub. Connie warned me that Sweetie was an extremely skittish inside-only cat who had shown up on her doorstep (along with a kitten) some time ago. Both Sweetie and the grown kitten were now inside-only kitties with vet shots/spayed, but Sweetie had never lost her skittish ways. This made my stomach churn with anxiety, as skittish inside-only cats are the toughest rescue. They need to be controlled in the tree because they do not know the way home if they fall or jump. I put a rope high above Sweetie, and started climbing slowly. Sweetie eyed me nervously, ignored a 'lets-be-friends' food bribe, and jumped to a neighboring tree when I approached into grab range. It was obvious that Sweetie would not warm up to me, so I pulled up my net and grab pole. I swung over to Sweetie's tree, anchored myself, and attempted a pole grab. Sweetie batted at the noose, lost her grip, fell 20 feet to the ground, and took off running. She bounced off a fence that bordered the yard, followed it, found an opening, and disappeared down a ditch that headed towards a wooded area. On the ground, both Connie and I explored the area but did not see Sweetie. We were both heartsick at the thought that Sweetie may be lost and unable to find her way home. Six days later, Connie called me with the incredible news that Sweetie had come home. Connie's daughter spotted Sweetie at the back door late at night via the security camera, called Connie, who was then able to coax Sweetie inside. Whew. Connie, many thanks for your generous donation to the Oktibbeha County Humane Society!